Former traffic police officer sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping boy and demanding 15 billion VND ransom

On the morning of December 29, the Hanoi People's Court opened a first-instance trial and sentenced defendant Nguyen Duc Trung (31 years old, former police chief of Vinh Phuc province) to 20 years in prison for kidnapping to appropriate property.

Nguyen Duc Trung is the person who kidnapped a 7-year-old boy and demanded a ransom of 15 billion VND in Viet Hung urban area (Long Bien district, Hanoi) on the evening of August 14.

During the procedure, the panel of judges said that the victim's family had submitted a request for trial in absentia due to work.

In court, Trung said that due to investing in virtual currency, he had borrowed about 6-7 billion VND. Being pressured to pay the debt, the defendant had the idea of ​​stealing property. On August 13, Trung traveled from Vinh Phuc to Hanoi to steal property. However, upon arriving in Hanoi, Trung could not steal anything and returned home.

The next morning, Trung returned to Hanoi but still could not steal anything, so he decided to kidnap children for ransom. To carry out the act, the defendant went to the market in Long Bien district to buy gloves, rubber bands...

On the same afternoon, when returning to Viet Hung urban area (Long Bien district), the defendant met a boy named NHP (7 years old) riding a bicycle on the internal road. "The defendant opened the car door and asked the child "where is Mr. Tuan's house" to distract him. When the child stopped the car, the defendant pulled him into the car and tied his hands in order to kidnap him," Trung recounted.

After kidnapping the child, the defendant asked about the family's financial situation and the phone number of relatives, and P. read out her mother's phone number. When contacting Ms. H. (P.'s mother), Trung informed her that P. had been kidnapped and demanded a ransom of 15 billion VND.

At the same time, the defendant told Ms. H. not to report to the police, otherwise she would not be able to see her child again.

“Why did the defendant ask for 15 billion and not another number?”, the panel of judges asked. Defendant Trung said “it was because the defendant thought of a number.”

"Or is 15 billion enough for the defendant to pay the debt?", the panel continued to ask. Regarding this question, defendant Trung remained silent.

In court, Trung confessed that his child was 2 years old, "if my child was kidnapped, I would be very scared."

At Trung's request, Ms. H. put the money in a black handbag, took it to her car and drove as Trung instructed to the service road near Dong Van Industrial Park (Duy Tien town, Ha Nam). Upon arrival, Ms. H. got out of the car and put the bag of money on the ground. Trung took the bag of money, released P. and drove away, but was discovered and arrested by Hanoi City Police along with the evidence.

Regarding the origin of the gun, the former traffic police officer said he bought it online in 2021, even though he knew this was illegal.